Haverhill residents enjoy long-postponed trip to Wrigley Field

Mac Cerullo, The Eagle-Tribune, North Andover, Mass.
·2 min read

Jul. 4—CHICAGO — For Tim Tierney, this past weekend's trip to Chicago was a long time coming.

Two years ago, the Haverhill resident and his wife, Tricia, booked a tour of the Windy City through Methuen-based Rite Way Travel. The highlight of the trip would have been getting to see the Red Sox play the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field, but the plans fell through following the outbreak of the pandemic.

Over the weekend, they finally made it to The Friendly Confines.

The Tierneys were among approximately 25 Merrimack Valley residents who made the trip to Chicago as part of Rite Way's tour, which included stops at all of Chicago's major destinations as well as tickets to Friday's and Saturday's Red Sox-Cubs games at Wrigley Field.

"Except for the loss, it was great!" Tierney said. "It's funny, we've been going down to Patriots games for the last nine years or so, so I guess I'm used to us losing when we try to go and see games. I think we've only won one."

Despite Boston's disappointing performances in the first two games of the series, Tierney said he and his wife had a blast. They took in the action from the first base and third base lines over the course of the weekend, and they said the park lived up to its reputation as one of the best places to watch a game in the country.

"It's great, it's very friendly. It kind of reminds me of going into Fenway," he said. "Being in the middle of the city, you've got restaurants, great bars, great entertainment right around the area. Again, knowing that Wrigley is the second oldest, it's always great to see the ivy out there, just fantastic."

Tierney, a retired Air Force veteran originally from Syracuse, New York, works for The Salvation Army and runs the charity's thrift stores throughout the Boston area, including in Salem, New Hampshire.

He and his wife have been big baseball fans for years and they've had a chance to visit a sizable number of the league's parks, including every one along the Eastern Seaboard besides Miami, plus Milwaukee, St. Louis' old Busch Stadium and a handful of ballparks on the West Coast.

"I just like going to different ballparks," he said. "My wife hasn't been to as many as I have, but she'd never been to Wrigley and I also have a son that lives out here."

Even if it took awhile longer to make it than hoped, it was definitely well worth the wait.

Email: mcerullo@northofboston.com. Twitter: @MacCerullo.